Supreme Court reinstates death penalty for California killer

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Source: McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the death penalty for convicted California murderer Scott Pinholster, in a fractured ruling that will make it difficult for other prisoners to win appeals in federal court.

Imprisoned on San Quentin's death row after being convicted in 1984, Pinholster has been arguing for several decades that his trial attorneys were fatally incompetent.

A federal judge and a federal appeals court agreed with the mentally distressed Southern California native, but a divided Supreme Court said that a federal law restricts what new evidence can be considered when hearing a challenge to state-run trials.

"Although state prisoners may sometimes submit new evidence in federal court, (the law) is designed to strongly discourage them from doing so," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/04/2150384/supreme-court-reinstates-death.html

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Holster?